


Green

by thalaivi



Series: Split personality [2]
Category: CSI: Miami
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-20
Updated: 2020-09-20
Packaged: 2021-03-07 19:08:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,076
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26562646
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thalaivi/pseuds/thalaivi
Summary: Three things cannot long be hidden. The sun, the moon and the truth - BudhaHoratio finds out who Luke is
Relationships: Eric Delko/Tim Speedle
Series: Split personality [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1885114





	Green

**Author's Note:**

> Ok this one's trickier than the last one because while I still am not trying to upset anyone with DID there is going to be a lot of switching between alters and I have no idea if that is normal or not. My only information about the disorder comes from the Internet and a couple of TV series and one Sidney Sheldon book I've read
> 
> I understand DID is a serious disorder and I apologize for any facts I end up getting wrong

“You know if someone does catch us…”

“You know no one is going to. You sound like Eric. Learn to live a little”

The voices emerging from a very small almost-hidden recess near the entrance to the morgue used only by investigators startled Horatio ‘H’ Caine, Lt. of the crime lab for two reasons. One he hadn’t expected anyone – and certainly not two of his CSIs - to be here at this time of the night and kissing at that if he was hearing things right. And two no matter the voice referring to Eric in the third person he had been under the impression that it was Eric he had heard speak.

“C’mon man”, Timothy ‘Speed’ Speedle his trace expert said in his usual unhappy mutter. “You’ve had your fun. Our luck H is gonna stay late come into the morgue for something and catch us”

“That guy needs to get a life”, Eric ‘Delektorsky’ Delko his fingerprints expert said in a tone which Horatio rarely heard from him. The first time Horatio had excused as a really bad scene. After all a family hacked to death definitely qualified as an excuse to snap in anyone’s book including his. The second time was when he had – admittedly – almost hounded the young man to talk after the case mostly because he could see the impact the whole thing had had on his normally cheerful CSI

“Kid”, Speed muttered again but this time Horatio could hear Speed giving in going along with… He wished he could cover his ears when he heard the sound of clothes being shed and instinctively looked around for cameras. Cursing mentally he forced his legs to move away from the sounds of what was decidedly a very heavy – makeout session – to use the teenage expression and deciding that whatever the body had to tell him could be done any other time almost ran away from there

“Mornin’”, he greeted his CSIs the next day at a watery gravesite and received two grunts in return. Speed’s he could understand; the trace expert hated the waters around Miami with a passion he reserved for formal dressing. Eric though normally enjoyed any excuse to get wet. “Sleep ok gentlemen?”

The reaction from the Cuban was very telling. His head snapped up and the cold look to his eyes shocked Horatio. The Speed trod on his foot – quite accidently – it seemed and the young man forced his gaze to drop with what he was was sure was artificial embarrassment

“Just went to the bar around the corner H”, his trace expert lied with ease. “Got home at about two I think. I know school night”, he added holding up his hands. “But you should have seen the mess the last scene left us”

“Yeah I’m sure”. Speed winced knowing Horatio hadn’t bought his excuse at all. But luckily for them Sevilla approached them with an update on witnesses

“He knows”

“You can’t kill him. He’s our boss”, Speed said automatically his eyes never leaving the file he’d been reading while ‘Eric’ drove them back to the lab. “’Sides he might think we’re dating”

“Which we are”

“And there’s no departmental policy on two CSIs dating”

“He knows about me”

“You got no proof of that”. Speed finally looked up when ‘Eric’ braked quite roughly and let the tires spin before he stopped the car. “He’s gonna know something’s wrong if you wreck the Hummer”, he said going for humour then sighed when ‘Eric’ got out of the vehicle and walked a few feet away. “And people say I’m the one that runs from my problems”, he muttered to himself before he followed his lover out

Horatio found himself instinctively watching Eric closely the next few days but apart from a couple of odd looks; looks he admittedly deserved because he wasn’t exactly behaving normally either, he couldn’t find anything different about the young CSI he had recently hired. But his gut was telling him something was going on.

And then there was Speed

Horatio had been attracted to the scruffy young scientist since the time he had joined CSI. Having been forced to hide he had been bisexual from a young age thanks to a Catholic upbringing meant he had had a grand total of zero experiences in approaching a man and asking him out. Add to that Speed’s reserve and Horatio hadn’t even known the trace expert was interested in men. But now… 

He had known Eric and Speed were close. What he hadn’t expected was for the two of them to start dating. Or for himself to… not be comfortable with it

He told himself that it could lead to all sorts of complications. They were paired up a lot after all. Speed had offered to help Eric learn the job and Horatio already burdened by the responsibilities Megan’s departure brought him had found himself glad to offload at least one of his duties on to someone else. 

Not that he hadn’t worked with Eric or helped him out. While he wasn’t exactly a completely hands-on boss - he did believe in letting his people have their space - since Eric was new to the team he had done what he could to help the young man settle in amongst them. And he had to admit as talented as he had known Eric to be and as confident as he had been when hiring him, even he had been pleasantly surprised by the way the Cuban had picked up the nuances of a complicated job. Not only had he been completely professional at crime scenes, he had in the lab and in private brought Speed out of his shell, been nothing but friendly to Calleigh knowing exactly where the line was and had sought Horatio out more and more just as he had with Speed. 

But now Eric and Speed seemed to be… together… and as much as he wanted to use the ‘this will affect the lab’ excuse he knew he was jealous plain and simple. And what was worse he had a feeling Eric knew too. While he hadn’t been overtly cold to Horatio, at least not since that day at the scene, nor any different with Speed thereby making their relationship public he had been… flirting… sort of… with their trace expert. And Horatio had a feeling the whole act was solely for his benefit because Speed didn’t seem to enjoy it. It was as if Eric was telling him, ‘Speed’s mine so back off’.

And that was so unlike the young man he knew

“I wasn’t trying to hurt you. Or… he… you know what I’m talking about Speed”, the Cuban said after yet another fight. “It’s just the way Horatio looks at you”

“Horatio’s my friend”, Speed snapped tired of the same old crap. “He’s not attracted to me. You’re just being paranoid as usual Luke. That’s exactly what I mean dammit”, he yelled when the young man checked the windows and doors to make sure they were locked. “We’re definitely alone and no one lives within fifty yards of us. I’m not being that loud”

“You don’t get it do you. You don’t actually get it. The minute anyone finds out I exist I go into a psych ward. And so does Eric. You don’t understand Tim”, Luke said exhausted. “You really don’t understand us at all”

Speed’s face softened. He knew Luke… and if he had to admit, Eric were right about one thing. If someone did know Eric wasn’t all he seemed… He sighed and hugged the young man he loved from behind

“DID is just… it’s a disorder Luke, it doesn’t mean you’re crazy. Neither of you are. And if I slip up and call you Luke we can say it’s a middle name or something. You actually never gave one on your application”

“You’re literally the first person to say neither of us, or both of us”, he said quickly when Speed laughed. “You know what I mean”

“I do know what you mean and I promise you I… it’s not… I know there are two different personalities in this body and as crazy as it sounds I love the both of you. Not just Eric, not just you Luke. It also helps the two of you have an amazingly sexy body”, he added just to lighten the mood. “Didn’t know you could blush”, he said kissing the now warm cheek and received a pinch to his thigh that had him yelping in return. He reluctantly returned to the conversation they’d been having. “Look Luke, H and I… he… he cares about me. I’m not an idiot I can see that… but… it’s like you and Cal or rather Eric and Cal. It’s not even that actually. He doesn’t… he…”. He trailed off unable to describe his friendship to Horatio even as he tried to convince Luke that it was just friendship

“You know you’re the only one in that place he touches”

“What?”, Speed asked flabbergasted

“Horatio. You’re literally the only one to receive a pat on the back, a touch to the shoulder even a one-armed hug once when he was sorta buzzed”

“I… I never noticed”, Speed admitted and he honestly hadn’t

“PTSD Tim”, Luke reminded him tiredly. “I notice everything. Eric may not, hell he doesn’t even care if someone’s out to…”. He shook his head, as far as he was concerned Eric was naïve. End of story

“Yeah but that doesn’t mean anything Luke and even if it does… I honestly don’t see him that way. I don’t want him, I want you”

“You mean that?”, Luke asked him and he nodded firmly. 

“I told you, your DID doesn’t… it doesn’t affect the way I look at you. You survived Luke. You… Eric he went through hell and you helped him. You and he both, you guys survived because you were there. And I’m really glad you did because you… you complete my life. And if you ever tell anyone I can be this…”

“Sappy”

“I will stick a knife in you when you sleep”

Luke couldn’t help but laugh

“Eric”

“H, hey. Sorry no prints on… And that’s not why you’re here”, Eric finished at the look on his face and Horatio chuckled

“No Eric, I’m not. Sgt. Roberts called”

“Everything ok?”

“Yeah pal, everything’s fine but your transfer was rushed through because of Megan’s sudden departure and apparently he needs you to sign some things”

“That’s not why he really called is it?”, Eric asked with a knowing smile and Horatio ducked his head. “It’s ok H, ask”, he said

“I don’t have anything to ask pal”. Eric shook his head. 

“Your face says you do”

“I… I familiarised myself with the case file”, Horatio admitted. “And if I…. You survived”, he said at last. “And for now that’s all that matters because if you hadn’t the world would have lost a wonderful person”

“H”, Eric protested with a blush

“If you ever wanna talk Eric, I’ll listen but… but that’s all”

“I’m fine H, I promise”

“Hey, thought we were meeting up at the shooting range yesterday?”, Calleigh asked Eric in the breakroom sounding not exactly annoyed but curious

“Shooting range. Damn. So sorry Cal. I… I forgot. I’m so sorry”, he apologised

‘I’m seriously going to kill you. You made me forget’

‘Luckily enough you can’t kill me. And I wanted a day with Speed’

“Sorry Cal, did you say something?”, he asked her when he realised she was waiting for an answer

“Nothing, just wanted to know if everything was fine that’s all. You just looked… zoned out”

“Uh no. I’m fine Cal… Just kinda… Sorry just got to doing other stuff yesterday and lost track of time”

“Really what kind of other stuff?”, Mathews, one of the old timers in the DNA lab asked

“Just stuff”, Luke who had never really liked him took over and said. “What does it matter Mathews?”

“Just wondering if the stuff you were doing was Speed”. The crude joke had Luke stand up and stalk towards him before Calleigh stepped in his path. 

“Is there a problem Mathews?” Horatio’s appearance didn’t really help Luke and he turned away his anger plain

“No Lt. of course not, just making small talk”

“Yes well, cases are piling up aren’t they. Speaking of, I’m yet to see a report on the blood from the Coral Gables scene”

Mathews left with a mumbled excuse but Luke’s shoulders did not relax. He knew, just knew Horatio would approach him wanting to know if Eric was ok and…

‘H is just trying to help’

‘Shut up’

‘I don’t like it when you take over when you’re angry and…’

‘Shut up’

“Eric”. Luke more concerned with the fact that Eric seemed to have been hurt by his anger barely heard Horatio. Luckily enough Speed walked in

“H?”, he asked. “Everything ok?”

Horatio’s eyes were fixed on Eric who seemed to be lost to the world. “Everything’s fine Tim”, he said at last knowing Speed was who his CSI needed now not even realising the trace expert had been startled by the usage of his first name which only happened if Horatio was worried. “I’ll be in my office”

The familiar touch on his shoulders had Luke snap out of it. Realising he was alone he turned and grasped the collars of Speed’s tshirt. “Mathews, bastard… he made a stupid joke and I got mad and now Eric won’t talk to me”

“What?”, Speed asked surprised. “Why is Eric mad at you for that?”

“Cos I… I got upset and I… I answered”

Speed understood. Luke usually never just suppressed Eric like that. The two alters had an understanding of sorts. Eric normally let Luke do as he pleased but only because Luke knew to act to secure Eric’s welfare. Eric wasn’t exactly completely naïve but he was a bit too trusting for the cynical Speed and the sceptical type that Luke was. So if Luke figured someone were to take Eric for a ride he normally came to the forefront and Eric never cared. The only times the alters seemed to disagree were when it came to Horatio. 

Eric liked and cared about the redhead. He thought – as did Speed – that Horatio wouldn’t be the type to discriminate even if he knew they had DID. Luke though, possessive as he was of Speed and Eric, had a tendency to mistrust anyone who he thought would separate him from them

“Hey… am sure, he… it’s just temporary babe”, he said not caring that this was their breakroom and pulling Luke into a hug. “He’s gonna come around. I promise”

“He’s not… he’s not even responding. I tried”. Luke’s distress was plain and Speed was for once floored. He had thought he had known Luke well. While he just like Eric was compassionate to their victims he also had a tendency to be condescending at best to people he didn’t like, usually getting in their faces and letting them know what he thought of their ‘opinions’. And while he loved Eric and Speed fiercely, Speed had never thought him capable of so much emotion

“I’m sorry”, he whispered aware someone could come in for a cup of coffee any minute.

“It’s ok, this isn’t on you. I was stupid”

“No you weren’t Luke”, Speed said pulling him back. “And that’s not what I was apologising for. Look Eric knows you care, you just need to give him time”

“What do you mean?”

“Give him a few hours”, Speed said deliberately misunderstanding his question and ignored his glare with ease. “Now c’mon the print lab’s waiting for you”

“Baby”. The forbidding tone had Luke automatically drop his cigarette and ground it before he realised what he was doing. He heard Eric laugh and told him to shut up

“Alexx”, he said with what he hoped was a winning smile but knew from the look on her face that she wasn’t impressed

“Since when do you smoke?”, she asked and he sighed. He smoked, Eric didn’t. It was as simple as that but he knew he couldn’t exactly tell her that

“Sometimes”, he said honestly instead. “When I’m kinda stressed out”

“Everything all right baby?”

“Yeah just… I pissed off someone I care about badly”

‘I’m still here you know. And I’m allowed to get mad at you’

‘My whole reason for existence is to make you feel better and I screw that up’

‘No, your reason for existence is because you exist. And for the record I’m still mad at you’

‘Then tell me how I can fix this? Cos without you…’

‘Don’t be an idiot Luke. I can…’

“Eric honey”

“Sorry what?”, Luke whose mind was still on his conversation with Eric asked. “Sorry Alexx did you say something”. 

Speed came to his rescue like he always did. “Kid, H wants to see you. Something about the print lab”

Luke winced. He had thought he had filed that last report correctly but he must have missed out on…

‘Hey I told you what to do. Not my fault you didn’t listen’

‘Yeah, yeah just shut it’

He heard Eric laugh again and his face softened. Then his eyes met Speed’s the question plain

“You’re not in trouble kid”, Speed said correctly interpreting the look. “Had to say something to get rid of Alexx”. Luke was startled to see Alexx was gone

‘You really do love him too, don’t you?’ He could feel Eric’s grin. ‘You let your guard down around him’

Suddenly Luke needed Speed to know that too. He pulled him into a kiss that left him dazed. “What was that for?”, Speed asked him on auto-pilot

“Sorry”, Luke muttered face heating up. “I know it’s work and all but I suddenly…. You mean everything to me and Eric just pointed that out”

“Then I should kick his ass cos he could have gotten us into a lot of trouble”

Luke laughed for the first time since that morning. And suddenly Eric was there. “You won’t kick my ass right?”, he asked in that sultry smile and that whisper

“Nope, but might think of other things I might do”. Eric blushed to the roots of his hair

“You ever been to Vegas man”

“No, never”, a smiling Eric said as he bumped bottles with Warrick Brown the CSI from Las Vegas. 

“Yeah well you should, and bring that guy of yours too”

“What?”, Eric almost squeaked but then relaxed when Warrick only laughed

“CSI man, it’s kinda not hard to see. I take it your colleagues know”

“Yeah sorta. I mean we’ve been working together only a couple of months. I just moved here from Underwater Recovery. But I’m pretty sure my Lt. knows”

‘Cos you made sure to tell him”

‘Will you give it a rest. He was going after Speed’

‘Yeah sure he was’

“Yeah well, you’re cheerful and he’s a lot more like…”

“You”, Eric pointed out and Warrick laughed again

“Got me there bro”, he admitted

By the time they left the bar Eric was more than slightly buzzed. “Damn, haven’t drank like this in a while. Went straight to my head”

“Sorry man, didn’t mean to keep you here this late”, Warrick said and he shook his head

“Nah, just… can’t drive back”. He winced at leaving his truck in the lot. Speed would never let him live it down if it was stolen

“I could drive you back”

“Nah don’t worry about it Rick. I’ll just call Tim and ask him to pick me up”

“Nope, just gimme the keys here”, Warrick said snatching it out of his hands. “Now c’mon”

“Rick it’s fine”, Eric protested but was overruled

“This the apartment?”, Warrick asked as he pulled into the parking lot

“Yeah”, Eric who was almost half-asleep mumbled.

“You ok to go in on your own or am I… Looks like I’m lugging you in”, he muttered when Eric looked dazed

“Eric, what the fuck happened?”, Speed who seemed to have been just entering the building himself asked

“Just went out to a bar that’s all”, Warrick answered carefully because Speed looked like he wanted to rip someone’s head off. 

“He’s drunk”

“’im”, Eric slurred

“Yeah, why the hell are you drunk?”

“You act like it’s a crime”, Warrick observed. Speed glared at him but Eric was trying to get his attention by grabbing his face and he gave in.

“I can call you a cab”, he offered just to be polite. “Or get someone from patrol to drop you off”

“Yeah no, don’t worry about it. Just take care of him”, Warrick said pointing to Eric

“How stupid can you get?”, Speed snapped the next morning. Eric who had one hell of a headache just groaned and slid his head onto the table

“W’ld you please st’p that”, he mumbled. “Luke’s already killing me”

“As he should, If you had gotten drunk and he had…”

“Yeah I know I can’t even drink because of my ‘condition’”. The mocking tone had Speed startle mostly because Eric usually never spoke like that. And Speed who knew both alters intimately knew Luke hadn’t taken over. Eric’s shoulders slumped. “Sorry”, he mumbled. “It’s just Rick was friendly and…”

“Rick? How friendly”

“Seriously, what the fuck man. Are you jealous?”

Luke took over. “C’mon Tim, I wasn’t going to let anything happen”

“I know”, Speed said. 

Eric came back almost immediately. “So you… you don’t trust me to keep my head, but you trust Luke to what… make sure I didn’t cheat on you. Don’t”, he said when Speed tried to speak. “Back off. And you shut up”. Speed knew Eric was really upset because he never spoke out loud to Luke. “Just… you know what. I need…. I’m going for a swim”. He ignored Speed’s “Eric wait”, and rushed out of there

“Everything ok?”, Horatio’s soft question had Eric look up from the blood he’d been staring at at the crime scene

“Yeah”, he answered blinking. “Everything’s fine. I… Tim and I had a… disagreement”, he confessed when Horatio continued to look concerned. “We’ll work it out H”

“You wanna talk about it?”, Horatio asked and he shook his head

“I just… I just did something stupid H, that’s all. Like I said we’ll be fine”

‘Especially if you don’t interfere’

‘Don’t start again Luke’

Eric’s face tightened and Horatio misunderstanding it as annoyance dropped the conversation

“Hey”, Horatio said as he entered the trace lab later that day to see Speed looking lost as well. “How worried should I be?”

The direct question from Horatio had the trace expert wince. “I… I did something stupid H”

“Funnily enough Eric said the same thing”. Speed winced again.

“Yeah well, for once he’s wrong. I…”. He knew Horatio knew about their relationship and he had always considered the redhead a friend. “I got jealous”

“What?”, Horatio asked surprised then figured it out. “Warrick Brown”

Speed nodded with a blush. “Yeah pretty stupid huh? I mean, Eric’s definitely not the type to cheat on me… It’s just… He rarely drinks and that day when he came back he was smashed and… I was stupid”

“Eric adores you Tim. I’ve seen the way he looks at you”

‘No you’ve seen the way Luke looks at me’, he thought. Out loud all he said was. “I know”

“You might wanna think about cooking some seafood for him”, Horatio advised and he laughed

He found a simmering… Luke… waiting for him at the apartment. And considering Eric was the one who was mad at him…

“You’re moving out?”, he asked shocked spotting the packed bags

“What the hell was I supposed to do? Stay here and watch you make out with Horatio”

“You’re… you can’t be serious. Horatio and I are just friends”

“Even Alexx doesn’t know you can cook. But Horatio seems to… and you’re just friends”

“Is that what? Another theory? Like the fact that he touches me Luke huh?”

“So you’re what saying, this doesn’t mean anything too. That you told him for fun”

“You ever consider I didn’t tell him? No Luke, you fucking didn’t, you just…”. The knock on the door had him stop. “Who the fuck is…?” He was surprised to see Horatio waiting there. “H what are you…?”

“Who’s Luke?”, Horatio asked him making both their hearts stop

“Who’s Luke?”, Horatio repeated when they’d settled down at the kitchen table; after he’d established there was no one else in the house apart from Speed and Eric. “And why the hell are you quitting”, he added pushing Eric’s badge and gun towards him

Luke avoided Speed’s hurt eyes. “I can’t stay here”, he said voice low and angry. “I need to leave”

“I asked you why Eric?”

“Yeah well I don’t have to tell you”

“Kid shut up”, Speed warned him. “Look H, I…”

Horatio’s eyes never left Eric’s. “I’m not talking to Eric am I?”, he asked quietly

Speed cursed and rushed to Luke’s side to pin his arms. “Don’t all right. He’s not gonna hurt Eric. And you”. He was so mad at Horatio now. “So not the fucking time for grandstanding all right”

“You’re an alter”, Horatio continued ignoring Speed. “You took over at the crime scene for him. Because he can’t handle those kind of scenes can he?”

“Horatio”, Speed said frustrated. “Please stop”

Horatio’s chuckle was bitter. “It wasn’t as if either of you would have told me”

Speed sighed. “Wasn’t my call”, he said tiredly settling back in his chair. 

“He didn’t need to know”

“Yeah he did Luke. As Eric’s boss… as your boss he needed to know what to watch out for”

“What’s your name?”, Horatio asked him… them

“What does it matter”

“Luke”, a frustrated voice said both as interruption and answer. “It’s fine Tim”, he added with a warm smile at Speed. “His name’s Luke Alvez. Don’t ask me why different last names”

“Your… your parents’…”

“Yeah, I…”. Eric closed his eyes with a shudder. “I was six when…”

“You don’t have to tell me Eric”

“So what you asked us this for fun”

“No Luke I asked him to understand”, Horatio said softly. “I told him I read the crime scene files”

“I’m aware. Eric doesn’t hide things from me”

‘No that’s your job’

“Ignore Luke H. He can be an ass sometimes”, Speed said still stinging from the earlier accusation. Luke rubbed the sides of his forehead but didn’t have an answer

“Well, I guess I’ll see you… see you all tomorrow at work”, Horatio said standing up and Luke’s head snapped up

“What did you say?”

“Unless you still wanna quit of course”

“You don’t want him… us to… You still want Eric there? And you said all… you didn’t say both”

“DID is a disorder Luke, I’ll give you that but unless Speed here is going to tell me either of you screwed up badly at a crime scene…” The look on his face wasn’t cold but Horatio now that he had had an opportunity to study Luke knew he was still speaking to the alter. “Yes I still want Eric to do his job, provided you want the same thing”

Luke’s eyes went to Speed. He knew he’d screwed up badly. “Yes I… I got some things to work out but I still wanna stay”

“Then I’ll see you guys tomorrow. Speed a word please”

“I… I heard a lot of the fight”, he admitted and the trace expert winced

“Sorry H… He… Luke he doesn’t… he’s scared”, he said acknowledging the facts to himself. “He’s just scared he’s gonna lose me”

“You guys need to talk Tim. I know I can’t tell him how I knew you cook but…”

Speed shook his head still hurt. “No, he… he didn’t even… he just assumed”

“Yes but as you rightly pointed out he was scared”

Speed’s dark eyes for once never wavered from Horatio’s face and he knew… in that moment he knew Luke had been right. His boss… cared… perhaps too much. Then the blue eyes became a mask. “Thank you”, he said quietly. “For being my friend”. Even if he didn’t add the still he knew Horatio understood

“I’ll see you tomorrow Tim”

Speed smiled

It took him two hours to calm down. Eric had intervened and while the bags hadn’t been unpacked there hadn’t been anymore talk of leaving either. But now that he could look at Luke without the hurt and the guilt…

“Horatio read my personnel file a few years ago after a bad accident. He was trying to find a contact information for me”

“Your family doesn’t care”, Luke said after a pause

“He didn’t know that back then. The point is he saw that my dad owned multiple restaurants and asked me if I had learnt to cook from him. I told him yes. I’ve even cooked for him a couple of times”

Luke wanted to bristle but held himself back. “He loves you”

“I know”, Speed agreed dropping into the chair beside him. 

“What?”, Luke asked him stunned

“I know H loves me. I saw it today”

He waited patiently as Luke his eyes inward bit his bottom lip worried. “So why are you… why are we still here?”

“Because it’s you I love”

“I’m a screwup. I… I hurt you every time. The both of you. I just… I wish I knew how to leave Eric”

“Is that what Eric wants?”, Speed asked calmly. “Because I can tell you I don’t want that. Yes you screw up”, he said deliberately misconstruing Luke’s words. “And yes you can be annoying as hell. But I still love you”, he said cupping Luke’s cheeks. 

“I’m sorry”, Luke apologised the tears in his eyes plain. “I just… I’m so sorry Tim. I never meant to hurt you. I… I just thought, if you… if you knew… you’d leave Eric… you’d leave me”, Luke admitted voice breaking. “And I… I couldn’t have… I can’t lose you”

“I know”, Speed said gently wiping the single tear away. “I love you Luke, I love both you and Eric and you won’t lose me. I’m not letting you go, not unless you want me to”

“Promise?”

“Promise?”, Eric asked as well

“I promise”, he answered the both of them


End file.
